Envelope detacher



Dec. 15, 1970 R. w. WINSTON ENVELOPE DETACHER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 27', 1969 INVENTOR RODNEY W. WINSTON Maflnfi, MM/m ATTORNEYS Dec. 15, 1970 |.w.w1NsToN 3,547,745

ENVELOPE DETACHER Filed Jan. 27, 1969 s Sheets-Sheet 7 I31 I 45 19 gIla Dec. 15,1970 R. w. WINSTON 3,547,745

ENVELOPE DETACHER Filed Jan. 27, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent Office 3,547,745 ENVELOPE DETACHER Rodney W. Winston, North Tonawanda, N.Y., assignor to Moore Business Forms, Inc., Niagara Falls, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 27, 1969, Ser. No. 794,293

Int. Cl. B32b U.S. Cl. 156-584 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An envelope detacher apparatus for stripping envelopes from a carrier Web to which the envelopes are attached in series, wherein a stripper plate, pivotable into position between the envelopes and the carrier web, causes separation as the web and attached envelopes are moved along opposite sides of the plate.

This invention relates generally to continuous envelopes and more particularly to an envelope detacher for separating envelopes or similar articles of stationery from a common carrier web to which they are mounted in sequential, parallel relation.

Increased use of continuous envelope assemblies of the type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,784, has given rise to the need for rapid removal of envelopes from their carrier strip at some desirable speed without appreciably interrupting the overall addressing or printing operation. Upto now, after such envelopes have been fed continuously into a business machine or typewriter for imprinting indicia thereon, the manner of detaching them from their carrier web was generally carried out by hand or by means of a separate tool. This tended to reduce the overall efficiency of the envelope printing operation since an additional attendant was needed to perform the detaching operation before mailing the envelopes to the customer. In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an envelope detacher for automatically separating the continuously mounted envelopes from their carrier strip in a rapid and vastly improved manner.

Another object of the present design is to provide an envelope detacher for separating envelopes connected in sequence which requires an attendant only for initially feeding the carrier strip thereto and which will thereafter rapidly detach the envelopes and cause them to be stacked in an orderly manner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an envelope detacher of the character described wherein a pivotal stripper plate is moved into position between the envlopes and the carrier web for separation as the envelope and web are moved along opposite sides of the plate,

A still further object of the invention is to provide a detacher apparatus for envelopes of the type described having a tray hingedly secured below the stripper plate for collecting the envelopes when the apparatus is in operation and for covering the detacher when not in use.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an envelope detacher apparatus embodying the principles of the invention, and showing the envelope tray open and the stripper plate tipped to the right to allow for insertion of the carrier web and attached envelopes,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 except that the stripper plate is shown after having been moved into its detaching position,

3,547,745 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken along the lines 55 and 6-6 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively,

FIG. 7 is a partial showing of the truck rolls taken along the line 77 of FIG. 4,

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7 showing a pair of truck rolls in their relation to an auxiliary roll, and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the carrier web and attached envelopes.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like and corresponding parts throughout several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 an envelope detacher apparatus 10 after its cover or collecting tray 11 has been fully opened from a closed position (not shown). The tray is hinged to sidewalls 13, 13 by means of hinge pins 12, 12 and is prevented from opening beyond its fully open position by stop pins 14, 14 on each sidewall. The detacher is preferably placed on a table top or counter 15 near one end thereof in order to avoid contact between the table and tray 11 upon opening. A stripper bar or plate 16 is shown tipped to the right about the hinge pins 12, 12 in order to prepare for insertion of the carrier web and its attached envelopes. Also, a positioning plate 17, secured at one end to a frame 18, is shown moved to the right as the frame pivots at 19', 19 on the tray 11.

The apparatus comprises a boxlike structure having sidewalls 13, a bottom Wall 21 integrally formed therewith, a top wall 22 and an end wall 23. The other end of the apparatus is open for reasons to be later explained. An inwardly extending flange 24 is secured to top wall 22 and spaced therefrom as clearly seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. A roller bar 25 (see FIG. 2) is mounted between sidewalls 13 for rotation by means of a belt 26 driven from a jack shaft 27 which in turn is driven from a motor 28 by means of belt 29. A pair of auxiliary rolls 31 are mounted on the bar 25 for rotation therewith so that truck rolls 32, a pair of which bear against each of the rolls 31, will be rotated counterclockwise as the rolls 31 rotate in a clockwise direction.

In FIG. 6 it can be seen that top wall 22 terminates in a depending, arcuate flange portion 33 thereby enabling a carrier web 34 to smoothly pass over top wall 22 and between contacting rolls 31 and 32. The flanges 24 are spaced from top wall 22 so that the web 34 may be inserted thereinbetween while the attached envelopes 35 are placed over the flanges 24, as clearly shown in FIG. 3.

The truck rolls 32. are mounted on a support member 36 (see FIGS. 7 and 8 which depict approximately half the length of member 36) extending between sidewalls 13. Member 36, being channel-shaped in cross-section, maintains rolls 32 tightly against rolls 31 by means of screws 37 and nuts 38 in engagement with a resilient plate member 39 attached to each sidewall 13, as clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 8. Should there ever be a need for fine adjustment or a readjustment of the pressure between rolls 31 and 32, the operator may simply manipulate the screws 37 and nuts 38 through the open end of the apparatus after flipping the cover 11 to its closed position over topwall 22.

The plate 39, being secured at only one end (not shown), produces a resilient or spring-like mount for the rolls 32 against the rolls 31. In order to provide an additional spring-like mount for the rolls 32, a pair of leaf springs 41 are used to mount the rolls 32 onto support member 36, as shown in FIG. 8. llt should be also noted that a channel-shaped clip member 42 interconnects a 3 pair of the rolls 32 so that they may act together as a unit. Also, it can be seen that apertures 43 in the support 36 permit the rolls 32 to protrude therethrough in contact with the rolls 31.

In order to load the apparatus, the operator inserts the carrier web 24 between top wall or upper platform 22 and flanges 24 with the undersides of attached envelopes 35 on the top side of flanges 24, as clearly shown in FIG. 3. The operator, at this time, should tip the stripper plate 16 to the right, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, so that the web 34 may be easily inserted between rolls 31 and 32. In order to facilitate insertion, several of the envelopes 35 are manually removed from the leading edge of the web, and a knob 44, on one end of the bar 25, may be turned in order to sufficiently load the apparatus before starting,

After insertion, the stripper plate 16 is moved to the position shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6 so that it rests on stops 45, 45 provided on sidewalls 13. A switch 46 turned to ON position starts the motor 28 and causes rotation of roller bar 25 through jack shaft 27 and belts 29, 26. Roller bar rotation and, consequently, detacher speed may be gradually controlled by means of a controller knob 47 which speeds up or slows down the motor 28. The envelopes 35 are successively detached from web 34 as they pass respectively on opposite sides of the stripper plate 16. The leading ends 48 of envelopes 35 are forced to move above the stripper plate while the carrier web is pulled downwardly by the rolls 31 and 32, as shown in FIG. 6. Plate 16 thus causes separation of the envelopes from the web as the glue spots 49 act to pull the paper fibers from either the web or the envelopes. The detached envelopes are thereafter directed onto collecting tray 11 in a manner shown in FIG. 3.

Frame 18, after being moved leftward to rest against hinge pins 12, 12, allows the free end of positioning plate 17 to frictionally decrease the movement of the detached envelopes as they pass thereunder. In this way, the envelopes may be neatly collected on the tray and easily re moved by the operator before they become stacked to any large degree.

It should be noted that the tray 11 is dimensioned so that its length is equal to the length of the apparatus and the width of its upstanding flange 11a is equal to the height of the apparatus. In this way the tray may be swung into closing position about the apparatus after the plate 17 and frame 18 are tipped to the right. Accordingly, the tray will provide a neat cover for the device when not in use. When the cover or collecting tray 11 is fully open, the operator is protected against injury by means of an edge protector 20 placed along the free edge of flange 11a, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

In view of the above, it can be seen that a simple but extremely effective detaching apparatus has been devised for separating envelopes attached in series to a carrier web by means of a pivotable stripper bar or plate positioned between the web and attached envelopes so that the envelope may be urged away from the carrier web as the fibers, from either the web or the envelope, are pulled away by the glue spots. Little attention is required for this apparatus and once the carrier web has been properly inserted, the switch may be turned on and the speed adjusted in accordance with a desirable removal rate. An attendant is required merely to remove the partially stacked envelopes from the tray of the apparatus and distribute them to the customer.

It will also be noted that the machine is well adapted to detach envelopes carried in the preferred edge-to-edge positions on the web. Such positioning, of course, keeps printers non-printing time to an absolute minimum.

It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the illustrated embodiment of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An envelope detacher apparatus for stripping envelopes from a carrier web to which the envelopes are attached in series, comprising:

a box-like casing including a pair of spaced sidewalls and an upper platform extending between said sidewalls so that the carrier web and its attached envelopes may be fed over said upper platform;

a roller bar rotatably mounted adjacent the forward end of said platform about which said web is constrained to move;

a stripper plate hingedly mounted closely adjacent said roller bar for swinging movement to position an edge of said plate between the advancing envelopes and the carrier web to which they are attached, the envelopes thus passing along one side of the plate and the carrier web along the other side;

and means for feeding said carrier web through the apparatus, around said roller bar, and past said stripper plate.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which a pair of auxiliary rolls are provided on said roller bar and wherein said feeding means include a driving means for rotating said roller bar and further include truck rolls in contact with said auxiliary rolls whereby the web is pulled downwardly between said truck and said auxiliary rolls as said driving means rotates said roller bar.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which there are provided a pair of spaced, inwardly directed flanges carried by said casing in vertically spaced relationship to said upper platform, said flanges adapted to intervene between the carrier web and the lateral edge portions of the envelopes on the carrier outwardly of the points of adhesion of the envelopes to the web, whereby proper guidance of the web and envelopes in advance of the stripper plate is assured.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a lower platform hingedly attached at one end to said sidewalls below said stripper plate, said lower platform extending in a direction away from said stripper plate for collecting the detached envelopes after the web and envelopes have passed along opposite sides of said stripper plate.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 further comprising an upstanding flange at the other end of said lower platform, the length of said lower platform approximating the length of said sidewalls and the width of said upstanding flange approximating the height of said sidewalls whereby said lower platform, when the apparatus is not in use, acts as a cover for said casing after being closed into position thereabout.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 further comprising means on said lower platform for positioning the detached envelopes as they are collected.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said envelope positioning means comprises a wire frame pivotally attached to said lower platform, and a positioning plate hingedly attached at one end to said wire frame so that the envelopes may be stacked into position as they pass beneath and in contact with the other end of said positioning plate.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 further including a knob on one end of said roller bar whereby a turning of said knob will move the carrier web downwardly between said auxiliary and said truck rolls for initiating movement of the carrier web through the apparatus.

9. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said truck rolls are mounted on a support member extending between said sidewalls, said support member lying parallel to said roller bar and being resiliently secured at each end to said sidewalls.

10. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said upper platform terminates at one end above the point of contact between said auxiliary and truck rolls, said one end of said upper platform having an arcuate flange extending downwardly toward said point of contact whereby the web may be smoothly pulled over and around said one end of said upper platform.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein a plate is secured at one end to each of said sidewalls, each said end of said support member being adjustably secured to the other end of each said plate thereby providing a resilient mount for said support member.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 wherein screw and nut means are provided for adjustably securing each said end of said support member to said other end of each said plate, respectively, whereby the pressure be- 6 tween said auxiliary and said truck rolls may be varied by manipulating said screw and nut means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,026,239 3/1962 Porter 156584 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,113,685 5/1968 Great Britain.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Primary Examiner 

